1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly to electronic communication devices.
2. Background Art
Mobile electronic communication devices, such as mobile telephones, smart phones, gaming devices, and the like, are used by billions of people. The owners of such devices come from all walks of life. These owners use mobile communication devices for many different purposes including, but not limited to, voice communications and data communications for text messaging, Internet browsing, commerce such as banking, and social networking. The circumstances under which users of mobile communication device use their devices varies widely as well.
In using mobile communication devices for so many different combinations of applications, service providers offer a wide variety of plans. Some include voice communications only, some offer voice communications and limited data communications, and others offer voice communications and unlimited data communications. Other plans do not include voice communications, but include one of limited data communications or unlimited data communications. The price for each plan varies.
One problem associated with many electronic communication devices is the user is unaware of how frequently the device communicates with a server for data. Illustrating by example, one device operating an electronic mail application may fetch mail continually, while another device operating a different electronic mail application may fetch mail hourly. Still another device running yet another electronic mail application may fetch mail only once a day. The amount of data communications traffic imposed on the network in each of these devices will be vastly different. Unpleasant surprises can arise for a user with a limited data plan when their device exceeds a monthly limit as the additional fees for this data communication can accumulate quickly. It would be advantageous to have a device or method that intelligently managed data communications to and from an electronic device.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure.